• How does it feel in your gut?
• Before and after your meals?
• Is constipation, bloating, or nausea common?
• Are there particular foods that don’t settle?
• Do you walk around often tired despite having slept seven to nine hours most nights?
• How much water do you drink a day?
• How often do you poop and what does it look like?

These are all things to assess when considering your digestion.

The Essential Function of Digestion

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, digestive disorders affect sixty to seventy million people in the United States. These disorders may include GERD, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, gallstones, hypochlorhydria, and leaky gut. Not to mention, indigestion, bloating, constipation, nausea, stomach pains, and more. In other words, if you experience less than optimal digestion, you are not alone.

And if your digestion is not spot on, it could be impacting your performance and results in the gym. Digestion is an essential aspect to training at your optimal function.

Since 99% of your nutrient assimilation occurs through food moving through your digestive system, if your digestive system is not functioning optimally, then your nutrient uptake is not optimal either. All the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and supplements you ingest are not being used to their fullest potential for energy, recovery, muscle growth and repair.

“Digestion is an essential aspect to training at your optimal function.”

Whether your goal is to make it to the CrossFit Games, compete in a triathlon, or simply to look good naked and keep up with the grandkids, a look inward can do wonders for your performance outward.

You don’t have to struggle with poor digestion forever. In fact, there are a few key steps you can do at home, today, to improve it and begin to experience more energy, new performance gains, and better absorption than before.

Here are a few triggers that can make digestion go wrong, and some simple ways for turning things around.

Stress

Stress hurts for many reasons – digestion included. Since digestion begins first and foremost in our brains, and the brain is also where stress reiterates from, when our brains are stressed, then our digestion can become stressed.

You know how it works: we are on the go, in our cars, or at our desks working, shoveling our food in quickly between appointments, meetings or other to-dos. We don’t take the time to sit down or sit still to allow the process of digestion to really begin and settle. Consequently, digestion takes a punch.

Our bodies are wired to digest and eat in a parasympathetic state, i.e. not when we are running from a bear, but when we are relaxed. You’ve already lost the battle if you practice stressful eating habits. So, slow down, and enjoy the sights, smells, and sounds as you sauté your veggies or cook up your burger.

Chew, Chew, Swallow

The digestive process begins in the mouth as your saliva assists in food transport and breakdown. But more often than not, due to our on-the-go lifestyles or improper habits around food consumption, we don’t chew enough.

This poor chewing contributes to the poor formation of a bolus (thoroughly chewed food to be transported to the stomach). When our food is not properly chewed, then our stomach and intestines are going to struggle with having to break down our food more than they’re designed to.

“Our bodies are wired to digest and eat in a parasympathetic state, i.e. not when we are running from a bear, but when we are relaxed.”

Put your fork down between bites, and chew your food until you can no longer tell what it formerly was. A piece of chicken should still taste like chicken, but look like a wad of saliva-glazed meat after you’re finished chewing. Who knows, your kids might enjoy it if the whole family holds each other accountable on this one.

Low Stomach Acid

The optimal pH (acidity level) of your stomach is 1.5-3 for digestion, i.e. highly acidic, particularly when it comes to dealing with proteins. A nutritional therapy practitioner, integrative medicine professional, or gastrointestinal doctor can help guide you into determining the acidity of your stomach.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes are some digestive supports that give many people a leg up when it comes to a healthy gut flora and enzyme production for the breakdown and assimilation of your nutrients. Some great options for probiotics are Jarro-dophilus EPS, Prescript-Assist, and TransFormation Enzymes Probiotic. Transformation also makes a great product called Digest and Biotics Research’s Intezyme Forte is a great post-meal supplement.

Leaky Gut Syndrome and Dysbiosis

When food is not fully digested, instead of being seen as a nourishing nutrient, it is seen as a foreign invader and the body has an autoimmune response. As a result, the flow of digestion can be disrupted, resulting in things like IBS, constipation, and bloating. This can happen from repeatedly eating foods that don’t agree with us.

Given that, to begin healing your gut, start with consistency in sticking to a clean diet. Incorporate gut-healing foods like bone broth, fermented vegetables, raw full-fat cultured dairy (yogurt), coconut products, and sprouted seeds (chia, hemp, flaxseed).

“While bars and shakes can have a place in an athlete’s diet, they should not make up the bulk of your nutrition.”

In addition, healthy gut support supplements are a must. The probiotics and enzymes mentioned above can be a great start. In addition, consider L-glutamine (for healing your intestinal lining) and licorice root, which is an adaptogenic herb that helps balance cortisol levels and improves acid production in the stomach.

Poor Food Quality

Many of us are kids of a processed-food generation. Our bodies have been exposed to many chemicals and anti-nutrients that never nourished our body in the first place. Even today, many of us rely on fake sources of food (protein, bars, etc.) with claims that they will make us stronger, fitter, or healthier. In truth, they leave us bloated, constipated, and lacking in satiety.

While bars and shakes can have a place in an athlete’s diet, they should not make up the bulk of your nutrition. Instead, reach for pasture-raised eggs, dark leafy greens, red apples and juicy oranges, or organic grass-fed beef and chicken thighs. Real whole foods from a variety of sources will get you much further on the nutrient train.

Which Change Are You Going to Make?

So if you want to amp up your performance in the gym, try the simple changes I’ve outlined above. It could mean all the difference in your energy, performance, and even gains.

More on digestive health:

• 1 Simple Step Anyone Can Take to Improve Digestion
• Why You Need Indigestible Carbs in Your Diet
• 4 Tips for Healthy Digestion on Summer Vacation
• New On Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2014). NIH Publication No. 13–3873. 

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Want to Improve Your Gym Performance? Start in Your Gut appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If our gut health is poor, we can end up with impaired immune and nervous systems, and it can also wreak havoc with our hormonal function throughout the body. This is because our gastrointestinal tract is loaded with neurons that release the same neurotransmitters found in the brain. This is why you have “gut feelings” and any upset to this equilibrium can throw your body and mood into chaos.

The digestive system is really the corner stone of our wellbeing, as it is involved in so many processes. If our digestive system is in order, we feel great, we can perform at the level we want, and we can push ourselves to make bigger and better gains in the gym.

How Does This Happen?

The digestive system is a pathway starting at the mouth and ending at the anus. It is responsible for breaking down the foods we eat, extracting the nutrients needed, and then eliminating the waste. The problem is that poor food choices, viruses, parasites, caffeine, alcohol consumption, antibiotics, NSAIDs, and bad bacteria can cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract, which leads to increased permeability or “leaky gut.”

This “leaky gut” means that instead of foods being broken down, absorbed, and eliminated, partially digested foods can now cross through the damaged area of the intestinal lining and enter the blood stream directly. This leak can cause intolerances that then initiate an inflammatory response in the body and the release of stress hormones. One of these stress hormones is cortisol, which further taxes the body and starts to impair the body’s immune system. This can then lead to a host of issues that may not seem related to the impaired gastrointestinal tract, like allergies, skin conditions, impaired performance, and stubborn weight gain to name but a few.

How to Start Fixing Things

With so many things attacking our digestive system it would seem like an almost impossible task to try and restore its health. Luckily with a bit of planning and time it is possible to restore your gastrointestinal tract to optimal health. Healing the gut lining will allow your body to build a strong immune system again and produce the right amount of neurotransmitters so that you will feel well again. So how do we do it?

First, we need to adopt a new approach to the foods we consume. This can be done by starting with the “Four Rs” – remove, repair, restore, and replace.

Step 1: Remove

In this first step we remove the offending foods and toxins from your diet that could be acting as stressors on your system. This means caffeine, alcohol, processed foods, bad fats, and any other foods you think may be causing issues, like gluten and dairy. All of these all irritate the gut in some form and create an inflammatory response.

Step 2: Repair

The next step is to begin to repair the gut and heal the damaged intestinal lining. You do this by consuming an unprocessed diet and giving your body time to rest by providing it with substances that are known to heal the gut, like L-glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, antioxidants (in the form of vitamins A, C, and E), quercitin, aloe vera, and turmeric.

Step 3: Restore

This involves the restoration of your gut’s optimal bacterial flora population. This is done with the introduction of probiotics like Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis. A probiotic is a good bacteria and is ingested to help reinforce and maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract and to help fight illness. In general a healthy lower intestinal tract should contain around 85% good bacteria. This helps to combat any overgrowth of bad bacteria. Unfortunately in most people these percentages are skewed and this allows for the gut health to drastically decline. The human gut is home to bad bacteria like salmonella and clostridium, which is fine as long as they are kept in order and don’t get out of control.

Step 4: Replace

This involves getting your bile salts, digestive enzymes, and hydrochloric acid levels to optimal levels to maintain and promote healthy digestion. This can be done by supplementing with digestive enzymes and organic salt to help make sure you have enough hydrochloric acid.

Recommended Foods and Supplements:

• L-Glutamine – Helps to heal and seal the gut along with aiding in recovery after workouts, so it’s a double whammy supplement.
• Quality Fish Oil – Preferably a liquid, not capsule, if you can stand the taste. This helps reduce inflammation, balance hormones, and supports the immune system.
• Probiotics – They provide live strains of good bacteria to help bolster your defenses.
• Cinnamon – It can help to improve digestion and, as an added bonus, is great at balancing blood sugar levels.
• Mint – Great at soothing the stomach and can help to relax the gastrointestinal tract.
• Zinc – Very important as it is utilized to form digestive enzymes and also used in regulating hormones.
• Prebiotics – In the form of fermented foods. Prebiotics help to feed friendly bacteria and allow them to thrive in a healthy environment. Fermented foods include bio-available yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut.
• PH Balancing or Alkaline Foods – Anything green is generally okay, like kale, spinach, broccoli, wheatgrass, parsley, chlorella, and spirulina. These are all great at keeping high stomach acid levels in order.

So remember with a bit of time and work on your part you can obtain optimal gut health, which will make sure that all that hard earned work in and out of the gym pays off and isn’t wasted down the toilet.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post The Four Rs: How to Restore Optimal Gut Health appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Last week we took a look at what happens when your plumbing ceases to move with it’s normal ease and gusto. This week we’re going to focus on the opposite problem – when sprinting to the bathroom is your main form of your cardio. Since we are still talking about poop, let’s all take off our adult hats for a second and get our giggles out of the way. Poop is, after all, pretty funny sh*t! Okey-dokey, off we go.

Loose stools are not only an inconvenience and a potentially limiting factor in your life, they’re also a sign your body isn’t performing at its optimal level. What goes in must come out, but if it’s leaving the party too early, then you’re not getting everything you need from your food. It’s also a surefire way to end up dehydrated.

Along Came Polly brought the potential aftermath of urgent stools into the national conversation, and anyone who has spent any time in a third world country will tell you that they are a blast, but what causes them on a regular basis?

This week we’re going to break down our loose stools into two categories, urgent and non-urgent. Each situation has it’s own exciting attributes and both can be mitigated with some dietary changes.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views the urgency accompanying a bowel movement as coming from an element of “heat.” Quite literally, this is the effect of too much spice or anything your bowel considers an irritant. If it burns on the way in, it’s probably coming out pretty fast. The irritation triggers your body to eliminate the substance as soon and as forcefully as possible.

When there’s not a big rush to get to your pants down, but your stool is consistently watery and poorly formed, TCM views this as a case of “cold” attacking your intestines. This happens when we’ve eaten too much ice cream, ingested two watermelon smoothies, or spent the weekend eating raw salads (TCM views raw food as cold in nature).

For urgent stools, adding millet, persimmon, and pineapple will help slow down your peristalsis. Removing any spices or other known irritants is a further benefit.

For non-urgent but watery stools, adding in ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon will warm your intestinal track up and add to the binding effect on the stool.

For both cases, adding the above ingredients to small amounts of rice, or adding barley, garlic, and yams to your diet is the best combination. The temporary elimination of honey, dairy, apricots, and the moderation of fat intake will also help. Eating a bag of cashews, along with two avocadoes will not help bulk up your stool. Fiber, especially in the form of small meals should always be your first step.

Happy pooping!

The post Everybody Poops, Part 2: Every Which Way But Loose appeared first on Breaking Muscle.